Category Archives: Matthew

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Worry Weeds

Don’t Allow The Cares Of Life And The Lure Of Wealth Choke Out God

Be honest—you’ve got worries; so do I. I fight the same addiction to the cares of life and the lure of wealth that you do. Whether we like to admit it or not, the “worry weeds” that Jesus warned about are competing with the values of God’s Kingdom for the soil of our heart. And guess what? You are the only one who can weed out those worries. For sure, God will strengthen you and give you discernment to deal with them, but you are the one who will have to do a little self-weeding—so happy gardening!

The Journey: Matthew 13:22

The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced.

When I was a kid, my father would plant a garden in our back yard—tomatoes, green beans, corn, squash, strawberries—you name it, if it had a chance to grow, he’d plant it. He even planted cotton—in Oregon, for crying out loud! Then every Saturday morning in growing season, he’d drag my sorry carcass out of bed to weed that garden.

And I hated it; I wanted nothing to do with it. I wanted to be doing more productive things that all the other kids my age got to do on Saturdays: Sleeping in, or playing street football, or riding my stingray bike, or watching Saturday cartoons (in those days, “George of the Jungle” and its ilk were much more educational and mind-stretching than the stuff kids watch today). But no, I had to pull those stinking weeds.

Perhaps my dad, like Jesus, who spoke continually in parables to illustrate the kingdom life, was trying to teach an object lesson. You see, just as weeds can stunt the growth of a physical garden, nothing is more damaging to your relationship with God and your spiritual fruitfulness than the “worry weeds” in your life: The cares of this life and lure of wealth. These weeds are particularly dangerous because they look like fruit-producing plants at first, but in the end, they are noxious. They pop up early and often in the soil of your heart, and they alluringly demand your attention. Jesus called them thorns, warning that if not dealt with, they will eventually choke out the fruit-producing seed of God’s Word.

What are your worry weeds? Making the mortgage payment on your home, paying for a couple of cars in your garage, affording a respectable university for your kids or making sure your retirement account is getting fatter? Do you stay awake at night worrying about the yo-yo stock market, plotting the next move to outpace the “Joneses”, or worrying about who will occupy the White House in the next election?

Be honest—you’ve got worries; so do I. I fight the same addiction to the cares of life and the lure of wealth that you do. Whether we like to admit it or not, the “thorns” that Jesus warned about are competing with the values of God’s Kingdom for the soil of our heart. And guess what? You and I are the only ones who can weed out those worries. For sure, God will strengthen you and give you discernment to deal with them, but you are the one who will have to do a little self-weeding.

Interestingly, Jesus didn’t offer any practical actions steps here about weeding. I think that’s because we really don’t need any. We just need to roll up our sleeves and get busy. So go back to Matthew 6:33 and put the things that are consuming your attention through the sieve of “seek first the kingdom.” Then anything that gets caught in the sieve … weed it out!

Listen—it is time to quit talking about this and start weeding. You know intuitively that I am spot on about this. The growth and fruitfulness of the Kingdom of God in your life, in your family, and in your church is riding on you being bold enough and wise enough and ruthless enough to start pulling and chucking the weeds right out of your life.

So let’s do some weeding! I will pray for you, and I hope you will pray for me.

Happy gardening!

A Simple Prayer To Be More Like Jesus:

God, there are some worry weeds in my life. I don’t want them to choke out my relationship with you. So give me a discerning mind to spot them—my addictions to the cares of life, the accumulation of stuff, and the lure of wealth. The fill me with Holy Spirit boldness to get some weeding done today.
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Check The Dipstick

From the Abundance of the Heart

Engage your mind before you put your mouth in gear. Control your thinking and you’ll control your speaking. Control your speaking and you’ll control your whole life. And the best way to control your thinking is by consistently and prayerfully filling your mind with the Word of God.

The Journey: Matthew 12:34 & 36

How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak.

Just think of your heart as the reservoir and your tongue as the dipstick. If you want to figure out what is in the tank, or how much is there, just listen to what you say and you’ll get a pretty accurate picture of the true you.

The Bible uses the term “heart” to describe the inner person. The word “mind” could easily be substituted for “heart”, but it is more than that. The heart is not only your thinking part, it is your attitudes, desires, dreams, ambitions, personality—the invisible stuff that gives life to your skin and bones and makes you uniquely you. The heart is the inner capacity to know, love and respond to God.

The tongue, or what you say, simply reveals what already exists in your heart. Your words are critically important, and as Jesus said, you will be held to account for them, even the off-the-cuff ones. Yet it is not so much the words you speak, it’s what is behind them that is truly important. That is why you can’t simply discipline your tongue—though that is not a bad idea. It is your heart that needs to be transformed. If you don’t, your speech will ultimately betray what is on the inside.

A person with a harsh tongue has an angry heart; a negative tongue comes from a fearful heart; an overactive tongue springs from an insecure heart; a boasting tongue is from a prideful heart; a filthy tongue comes from an impure heart; a person who is critical all the time has a bitter heart. On the other hand, a person who is always encouraging has a joyful heart. One who speaks gently has a loving heart. Someone who speaks truthfully has an honest heart.

So what’s the solution to managing your mouth? I like what Lloyd Ogilvie, former Chaplain of the United States Senate says, “you’ve got to heart your tongue.”

That means, to begin with, you’ve got to get a new heart. Mouth control begins with a heart transplant. Ezekiel 18:31 says, “Rid yourself of all the offenses you have committed and get a new heart and a new spirit!” Painting the outside of the pump doesn’t make any difference if there is poison in the well. I can change the outside, turn over a new leaf, but what I really need is a new life or a fresh start. I need supernatural surgery from the Great Physician.

How do I get one? David prayed in Psalm 51, “Create in me a clean heart, O God.” Maybe you ought to pray that prayer right now, because God is in the heart transplant business. Ezekiel 36:26 says of God, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”

Then once God gives you a new heart, ask him for help every day. You need supernatural power to control your tongue. You can’t do it alone. Your life is a living proof of that. That’s why we’ve got to daily ask God to help us. In Psalm 141:3, the psalmist prays, “Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.”

That’s a great verse to memorize and pray every morning: “God, muzzle my mouth. Don’t let me be critical or judgmental or harsh today. Don’t let me say things that I’ll regret.” If you ask God for help, he will.

Finally, master your mouth by disciplined thinking. James 1:19 says, “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” In other words, engage your mind before you put your mouth in gear. Control your thinking and you’ll control your speaking. Control your speaking and you’ll control your whole life. And the best way to control your thinking is by consistently and prayerfully filling your mind with the Word of God.

What goes into your mind, gets into your heart, and what gets into your heart, comes out of your mouth. So don’t just watch your mouth—for sure, do that—but “above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”(Proverbs 4:23)

A Simple Prayer To Be More Like Jesus:

God, take control of what I say, and guard my lips and muzzle my mouth. Don’t let me be critical or judgmental or harsh today. Don’t let me say things that I’ll regret, but only things that will please you and draw others to who you are.
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100 Proof

Christ’s Church Is The Last, Best Hope Of The World!

Real hope—that’s what the world needs. People don’t need the empty promises of politicians, not the temporary security of material and monetary gain, not the momentary pleasure fix guaranteed by popular culture, they need the true, indestructible and joy-producing hope that comes only from knowing that the past is forgiven, the present is secure, and the future has been settled in advance. To be truly secure and fully satisfied in life, people need to know that no failures from the past will come back to haunt them, that the Divine hand will guide them in their every waking moment, and that when life is finally over, there is no doubt where they will spend the rest of eternity. There is only One who can produce that kind of hope: Jesus Christ.

The Journey: Matthew 12:21

And his name will be the hope of all the world.

Real hope—that’s what the world needs. People don’t need the empty promises of politicians, not the temporary security of material and monetary gain, not the momentary pleasure fix guaranteed by popular culture, they need the true, indestructible and joy-producing hope that comes only from knowing that the past is forgiven, the present is secure, and the future has been settled in advance. To be truly secure and fully satisfied in life, people need to know that no failures from the past will come back to haunt them, that the Divine hand will guide them in their every waking moment, and that when life is finally over, there is no doubt where they will spend the rest of eternity.

There is only One who can produce that kind of hope: Jesus Christ.

Jesus is the one true hope of the all the world! So if that is true, how can the world experience the true and lasting hope offered in his name? Through the best expression of Jesus Christ present in this world today: The church. The church—boldly proclaiming his story, obediently and lovingly living out his commands in harmonious community, engaging the world on its turf—is the only compelling and transforming force that can provide a glimpse of what a loving God looks like.

In that sense, the church is the only hope of the world. Since Jesus doesn’t live on Planet Earth anymore, except through his spiritual family—the body of Christ—the church must now represent that one, true hope to a lost world grasping at salvation. Wherever a church exists, it carries the title of the “last and best hope” of that local community.

But what is the church except a collection of individual believers of who disperse from their sacred gathering to represent the Lord of the church in their homes, neighborhoods, schools, places of social gathering and in the marketplace where they make a living. In that sense, then, it is the individual believer who takes on the role as “the only hope of the world.” As the Apostle Paul said in Colossians 1:26-27 (CEV),

“For ages and ages this message was kept secret from everyone, but now it has been explained to God’s people. God did this because he wanted you Gentiles to understand his wonderful and glorious mystery. And the mystery is that Christ lives in you, and he is your hope of sharing in God’s glory.”

“Christ in you, the hope of glory!” Jesus Christ—the only hope of the world, expressed the church, made up of people like us—you and me. Now think about that as you go about your business today: You are the living proof of a loving God to a lost world.

No one else will represent Jesus to the world today. Tag—your it! Just make sure you 100-proof!

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.
~Teresa of Avila

A Simple Prayer To Be More Like Jesus:

God, if no one else represents your Son, the Savior of the world, today, I will. Help me to be 100 proof—living proof of a loving Savior to a lost world.

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Only God Can Do That!

The Wise and Learned Of This World Will Never Understand

Unbridled joy in the face of unspeakable tragedy, heart-healing forgiveness for those who have taken what cannot be replaced, open-armed fellowship offered by the victim to the transgressor—only God can do that! It makes no sense apart from God; it cannot happen apart from a powerful work of the Holy Spirit. And only child-like faith can embrace something so humanly illogical! The wise and learned of this world recoil at the notion, but among those to whom God has revealed the kingdom, even something so mind-boggling as this becomes a sign of his presence and a token of his grace.

The Journey: Matthew 11:25

At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned, and revealed them to little children.”

A few years ago, I saw something that will stick in my mind forever. It was a scene that made no sense—except in God’s economy. I stood in a twenty-by-fifteen foot building in a rural village in Ethiopia. It was a church, made out of mud and sticks. The back wall was nothing more than a ratty and ripped plastic tarp. There were perhaps twenty people there when I walked in, most of them were under the age of 15, obviously very poor, and they were worshipping Jesus with such a passion that I rarely witness in my own country—or my own life.

One of the most amazing things about this rag-tag fellowship was that it was only five months old in the Lord at the time. Five months—and the joy in their hearts and the praise that flowed from their lips was at once profoundly moving yet at the same time deeply convicting as it revealed a spiritual lassitude in my own walk with Jesus.

Yet, even more amazing than the vibrancy of this young congregation was the horrible ordeal they had just endured. Just thirty days prior, the Ethiopian pastor who planted this church was shot and killed by an enraged husband upset over his wife’s conversion to Christ. The beloved shepherd of this fledgling flock, Gire Daba, was martyred for his faithful witness, leaving an infant congregation to makes its way in a hostile community.

In the small, dark sanctuary sitting among the worshippers was Pastor Gire’s widow. A mother of four and seven months pregnant with her fifth child, this grief-stricken woman had decided to stay within the very village where her husband gave his life to make a new life for her family. I and the team that traveled with me prayed over her, asking God to take what Satan had meant for evil and turn it into something outrageously good. After we were done, she simply thanked us for our prayer and our pledge of support.

Sitting less that ten feet away was the wife whose husband was now in jail for murdering Pastor Daba. Like Gire’s widow, she now has no means of support, not to mention an unbearable load of shame for her husband’s despicable act. When she surrendered her heart to Jesus, her husband savagely beat her in order to force her to recant her newfound faith. She refused, saying, “I cannot deny him—I love Jesus now!” We prayed with this young woman as well, asking God to turn her husband’s evil act into a testimony of grace in her life. We prayed that rather than living under the shame of her husband’s awful crime, she would be embraced by her new church family—including Gire Daba’s widow—and that this act of forgiveness, acceptance and reconciliation would be an irresistible testimony in the community.

Unbridled joy, heart-healing forgiveness, open-armed fellowship—only God can do that! It makes no sense apart from God; it cannot happen apart from a powerful work of the Holy Spirit. And only child-like faith can embrace something so humanly illogical! The wise and learned of this world recoil at the notion of a widow embracing the wife of her husband’s murderer—but among those to whom God has revealed the kingdom, even something so mind-boggling as this becomes a sign of his presence and a token of his grace.

Only God can do that!

A Simple Prayer To Be More Like Jesus:

God, give me a child-like faith that opens my heart and my mind to the mystifying ways and means of your kingdom.
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When You’re Deeply Disappointed With God

Your Uneasiness Is A Sign Of Life

We’ve all had times of doubt, questions, disappointment and perhaps even anger with God when he doesn’t live up to billing. Maybe that’s where you are today. That’s okay—God is big enough to handle your upset—provided you own up to your upset. God won’t give you a holy beat-down if you’ll come to him with a humble and honest heart. He’ll simply reaffirm your inestimable value and remind you of his everlasting love, then invite you to trust. And at the end of the day, you’ll never be disappointed when you trust God.

The Journey: Matthew 11:2-3

John the Baptist, who was in prison, heard about all the things the Messiah was doing. So he sent his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?”

Let’s be honest—we’ve all been deeply disappointed with God. Sometimes he doesn’t live up to our expectations: a prayer didn’t get answered the way we wanted or when we wanted, a healing didn’t occur, a job was lost, a relationship went sour, a marriage wasn’t saved, a loved one refused salvation, a child died…

That’s when faith really gets tested. It is easy to believe in the good times—when things are going great, prayers are getting answered, and God is obviously on our team. But just cut off the flow of blessing, squeeze our faith a little, push us out of the comfort zone, let God get outside of our happy little theological box we like to keep him in—then take our spiritual temperature and see if we’re still aflame with faith.

John the Baptist was there. He had obeyed the call of God early in his life as the forerunner of the Messiah. He had arranged his whole world around announcing Jesus as Israel’s Christ. He had lived an austere life, preached his heart out, courageously confronted the religious establishment, boldly challenged sinful hearts, and called Israel to national repentance, all to prepare the way for Jesus. He expected his faithfulness to God and obedience to the call would usher in the Kingdom of God when Jesus showed up and launched his messianic ministry.

But now he was in jail. He was in a pretty serious situation that in a few days would lead to his beheading. And Jesus was out there preaching to small crowds, doing a few miracles here and there, and not taking this Messiah thing very seriously. John was disappointed, to say the least.

Did you notice how Jesus handled John’s disappointment and doubt? Not with a brow beating, not with a scolding, not with anger, but he simply reaffirmed John and spoke about his value in God’s eyes. Jesus understood where John was coming from.

Jesus also understood that God’s timing was way different than John’s. John wanted the Kingdom now, and when it didn’t happen, he questioned. So Jesus redirected John’s faith—he encouraged him to take his eyes off circumstances and put them back where they belonged:

Go back to John and tell him what you have heard and seen—the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor. And tell him, “God blesses those who do not turn away because of me.” (John 11:4-6)

Jesus is inviting John to keep his eye on the undeniable evidence of God’s activity; to stand firm in the unshakeable hope God’s Kingdom; to lean into the unbreakable promise of God’s Word; to never let go of the irrefutable goodness of God’s character. And then, when it’s all said and done, John is just to fiercely trust!

We’ve all had those kinds of doubts, questions, disappointment and perhaps even anger with God when he doesn’t live up to billing. Maybe that’s where you are today. That’s okay—God is big enough to handle your upset—provided you do as John did: own up to your upset. God won’t give you a holy beat-down if you’ll come to him with a humble and honest heart. He’ll simply reaffirm your inestimable value and remind you of his everlasting love, then invite you to trust.

And at the end of the day, you’ll never be disappointed when you trust God. The Apostle Paul, who knew a fair amount about suffering, wrote these encouraging words in Romans 5:3-5,

We also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

Have you been honest with God about the doubts you are having—especially when they concern your confidence in him? He invites you to pour out your thoughts, worries and concerns—so right now is a great time to talk to him. And to listen. And then, to fiercely trust!

A Simple Prayer To Be More Like Jesus:

God, I turn my doubts about you back over to you. .While I have been disappointed in how you have handled things in my life, I confess that your ways are higher than mine, your wisdom is impeccable, and your will is unstoppable. So today, I choose to fiercely trust in your competence and your care.
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Congratulations! You Will Be Persecuted

Counted Worthy To Suffer For His Name

Jesus said that in our suffering, we are to “rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven.” (Luke 6:23) We can leap for joy knowing that if we lose everything on earth—even our lives—we will inherit everything in heaven. We can leap for joy knowing that persecution is our certificate of Christian authenticity, since the persecuted simply belong to a noble succession. (Matthew 5:12) But mostly we can leap for joy knowing that we are suffering on his account. When we can grasp the nobility of suffering for the cause of Christ, we can be like the apostles who, having been worked over by the Sanhedrin, “left rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.”

The Journey: Matthew 10:24-25

Students are not greater than their teacher, and slaves are not greater than their master. Students are to be like their teacher, and slaves are to be like their master. And since I, the master of the household, have been called the prince of demons, the members of my household will be called by even worse names!

I receive reports regularly from my church planting partners in Africa that include requests for prayer because of the persecution they are enduring. They are mocked, threatened, beaten and marginalized socially and ostracized economically. The spiritually dark and unreached villages that they have invaded usually hate them.

Jesus predicted as much: “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.” (John 15:18-19)

Obviously, we don’t see much persecution in the United States, not of that variety, and not at this time, although we may not be that far away from it. Yet according to the World Evangelical Alliance, over 200 million Christians in at least 60 countries are denied fundamental human rights solely because of their faith. The International Bulletin of Missionary Research reported in 2009 that approximately 176,000 Christians around the world were martyred during the previous year. And that is a pretty typical year analysis.

Notice Jesus words in Matthew 10:23: “when you are persecuted…” He didn’t say “if” but “when”. Persecution is happening right now, and it will continue with increasing regularity and intensity right up until the time he returns to set things right on Planet Earth. Of course, we should not meet that eventuality with passive acceptance—we need to use every means possible to appeal to our governments to protect us, we should pray for peace (1 Timothy 2:2) and by all means, we should be praying regularly for the persecuted church.

But on another level, we are “to rejoice and be glad” when we are persecuted. (Matthew 5:12) We are not to retaliate like an unbeliever. We are not to sulk like a punished child. We are not to lick our wounds in self-pity and hunker down like a dog. We are not just to grin and bear it like a Stoic. We are not to pretend to enjoy it as a hyper-spiritual masochist. No, we are to “rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven.” (Luke 6:23)

We can leap for joy knowing that if we lose everything on earth—even our lives—we will inherit everything in heaven. We can leap for joy knowing persecution is our certificate of Christian authenticity, since the persecuted simply belong to a noble succession, “for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:12) But mostly we can leap for joy knowing that we are suffering on his account. When we can grasp the nobility of suffering for the cause of Christ, we can be like the Apostles in Acts 5:41, who, having been beaten and threatened by the Sanhedrin,

They left the council, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.”

They had learned what I hope I can learn—and you, too: wounds in Christ’s cause are our medal of honor. Or as it was so profoundly stated by Christian martyr, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “Suffering then, is the badge of true discipleship…In fact, it is a joy and a token of his grace.”

A Simple Prayer To Be More Like Jesus:

God, while I am not suffering physical persecution like so of your children around the world, I nevertheless want to somehow identify in their hardship by praying for them. So I pray for the persecuted church today. I pray that you would be present with them in such a way that they know they are being held in your arms. I pray that you would extend your hand of grace and mercy upon them. Grant them courage and joy to suffer for your name. And if it be within your divine plan, deliver them from the evil that is pressing down upon them.
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By Whatever Means, Be Spirit-Filled

Today, I'm Claiming Your Promise

Nothing but the Spirit-filled life will equip the believer with words—and courage—to stand before hostile people to fearlessly declare what the world does not want but so desperately needs to hear: “God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

The Journey: Matthew 10:18-20

You will stand trial before governors and kings because you are my followers. But this will be your opportunity to tell the rulers and other unbelievers about me. When you are arrested, don’t worry about how to respond or what to say. God will give you the right words at the right time. For it is not you who will be speaking—it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

The New Testament writers spoke often of the Holy Spirit. Jesus directly spoke a great deal about the Spirit as well. For the first century Christians, a relationship with the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, was just as normal and expected a part of their faith experience as was their relationship with Jesus.

It is unfortunate that what was fully embraced in the first century has become so controversial in our day: The infilling of the Holy Spirit. We now quibble over if one is Spirit-filled at salvation or if the infilling comes when one is baptized in the Spirit as a separate and distinct event. We argue over whether speaking in tongues is the initial physical evidence of being Spirit-baptized or if the Spiritual language is even valid in the 21st century.

Theological lines have been drawn, denominations have been formed, preachers take their stand on one side of the issue or the other, position papers have been issued, and all the while God longingly waits to give the Holy Spirit to all who ask (Luke 11:13).

Jesus often referred to the “promise of the Father,” which was—and still is—to send the Holy Spirit to be with us, in us, and to work through us in ways that are beyond human replication. It doesn’t take too long reading in the New Testament to understand that God’s deep desire for his children is that they would live as Spirit-filled people.

For the believer, the Spirit-filled life is not an option, but a divine expectation. It is an act of faith and obedience that will enable the believer to experience dimensions of the blessedness that the Acts 2 believers experienced. Nothing but the Spirit-filled life will empower the believer for mission in the world. Nothing but the Spirit-filled life will enable the believer to live the kind of holy and honoring life God calls for—and deserves. Nothing but the Spirit-filled life will equip the believer with words—and courage—to stand before hostile people to fearlessly declare what the world does not want but so desperately needs to hear:

God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

The Father is still waiting to deliver His gift to those who ask. “Ask and keep on asking…for how much more will the Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask!” (Luke 11:9-13)

We may quibble over the mechanism of Spirit infilling, but the bottom line is, by whatever means, be filled and keep on being filled with God the Holy Spirit. You and I need his empowering presence now more than ever!

The Father promised it. Jesus declared it. The Holy Spirit is ready for it. Are you?

A Simple Prayer To Be More Like Jesus:

God, through you Son, I was promised a baptism with the Holy Spirit and with fire. Just as Jesus breathed on his disciples and invited them to receive the Holy Spirit, I ask you to breathe on me and baptize me in the Spirit afresh today. Fill me from the center to the circumference of my life—truly take over every square inch and every split second of my life. I want to be a living example of a Spirit-filled, Spirit-formed, Spirit-led disciple.